The Bali Pony is an ancient breed of Indonesianpony. They have a placid and good-natured temperament, stand between 12 and 13 hands high and are very strong for such a small pony. As might be expected of an old breed they are hardy, self-sufficient, rarely go lame and rarely need shoeing. Research Bali Pony
The Barb is an ancient North African Barbary breed of horse. The Barb stands between 14 and 15 hands high and is mostly grey, but also bay, brown or chestnut in colour. They are a desert horse, with great endurance and very strong feet which rarely go lame. They are a temperamental breed, which has been much used in cross breeding other horses, particularly the Spanish horses. Research Barb
Agesilaus was a king of Sparta. He was born in 442 BC and died about 360 BC. He was elevated to the throne after the death of his brother Agis II. He acquired renown By his exploits against the Persians, Thebans, and Athenians. Though a vigorous ruler, and almost adored by his soldiers, he was of small stature and lame from his birth. Xenophon, Plutarch, and Cornelius Nepos are among his biographers. Research Agesilaus
Charles Maurice De Talleyrand-Perigord was a French statesman. He was born in 1754 and died in 1838. A son of the Comte de Talleyrand-Perigord, and accident in childhood rendered him lame and precluded his entry into military service with the result that the family title passed to a younger brother and he joined the church. In 1789 he was made bishop of Autun. He sided with the Revolution and acquired a position of distinction in the National Assembly, and took a leading part in attacking the privileges of the church, relinquishing his orders in 1791. In 1792 he went to England on an unofficial political mission, the French monarchy not having as yet been formally ended. While there he was denounced by extremists in the Revolution, and he stayed in England until the fall of Robespierre. In 1797 he became foreign minister of the Directory, and barring a short retirement held the post until 1807 when he retired with the title of prince of Benevento.
He was minister of foreign affairs in France when Pinckney, Marshall and Gerry were sent from the United States on a special mission in 1797. He demanded (i) a disavowal of President Adams' hostile expressions toward France; (2) a loan, and (3) douceurs, which the American envoys refused to concede. The unofficial French negotiators, Hottinguer, Bellamy and Hauteval, were designated as X, Y and Z in the reports sent to the United States. These X, Y, Z papers aroused great indignation against France. Later, Charles Maurice De Talleyrand-Perigord made overtures for more favourable negotiations. He had visited the United States in 1794. He was still Minister at the time of the Louisiana cession of 1803.
Charles De Talleyrand-Perigord subsequently differed with Napoleon and took a lead in the faction which worked against the emperor and on his deposition in 1814 was rewarded with the post of foreign minister to Louis XVIII. He finally retired in 1834. Research Charles De Talleyrand-Perigord
Daniel Webster was an American politician and lawyer. He was born in 1782 at Salisbury, New Hampshire and died in 1852. Educated at Phillips (Exeter) Academy and at Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1801, he taught school at Fryeburg, in Maine, studied law, was called to the bar in 1805, and began the practice of law in Boscawen, New Hampshire. In 1807 he removed to Portsmouth. He was soon a leader of the bar, and from 1813 to 1817 was Congressman. In views he was then a moderate Federalist. He now settled in Boston, and in 1818 rose to the front rank of lawyers by his plea before the US Supreme Court in the famous 'Dartmouth College case', which involved the obligation of contracts and the powers of the Government.
From 1823 to 1827 he was Congressman from Massachusetts, was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and had attracted attention by his speeches on Greece and on free trade. He had become widely known as an orator. Among his great speeches were : at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial; at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, 1825; the eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, 1826. In 1827 Daniel Webster entered the US Senate, and ranked chief among the orators, of the giants in Congress; Clay, John Calhoun, Benton, were among his contemporaries.
He favoured the protective tariff of 1828. Two years later he reached his highest point, in the debate on the Foote resolution, where his reply to Hayne won for him the title of 'Expounder of the Constitution'. Daniel Webster opposed Nullification, was often pitted against John Calhoun took an active part in the Bank controversy, and was, with Clay, highest in the Whig party. He came within reach of the nomination for President.
In 1836 he received the electoral vote of Massachusetts. President Harrisonchose him for Secretary of State in 1841, and he alone of the members of Tyler's Cabinet refused to resign in September, 1841. He negotiated the Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain in 1842, and resigned in 1843. In 1845 he re-entered the Senate. He spoke on the Oregon question, gave a lame support to Taylor in 1848, and in 1850 in the Compromise excitement he alienated many former friends by his famous 'seventh of March speech'. He was again Secretary of State in 1850 until 1852. He received a few votes in the Convention of 1852, refused to support Scott, and died soon after at his home in Marshfield, Massachusetts Research Daniel Webster
Luis Velez De Guevara y Duenas was a Spanish dramatic poet. He was born in 1570 and died in 1644. His literary fame rests chiefly on his Diablo Cojuelo (LameDevil), which suggested the famous Diable Boiteux of Le Sage. Research Luis Velez De Guevara y Duenas
In Greek mythology, the Litai were sweet-natured goddesses, whose special duty was to recompense the persons whom Ate had reduced to distress and ruin. Their name signifies ' prayers of the penitent,' and the allegory in this case is not far to seek. Prayers atone and make amends for what a man does to the harm of others in thoughtlessness or from infatuation, without wicked thought or design. In the Homeric poems they are described as lame, wrinkled, and squinting - those deformities being caused by the trouble they had in making good the harm done by Ate. Penitent prayers were at best but sorry aid in making good the evil done from infatuation or carelessness. The Litai were supposed to be daughters of Zeus, and to place before him the prayers of those who invoked his assistance. Research Litai
Abbreviations
Research Bali Pony
